How to make Mehndi at home ?

Mehendi/ Mehndi/ Henna

Always go for the fresh green color mehendi of the best quality, It should have the following :-

1) Absolute green color (close to olive green)

2) Strong fragrance (natural not perfumed)

3) No chemicals added, make sure its 100% natural.

Careful:

Mehendi, which is stale, gives less color on the skin; it can be used for conditioning the hair. Mehendi, which is more brownish and odorless, is stale. So fresh mehendi can be used for both hair color and designing on hands.

Don't throw away the stale mehendi its an excellent hair conditioner.

Preparation of Mehendi Cone:

Mehendi is applied either using a cone or an applicator (a squeezable bottle with a metal tip). You could also try using your skills by making designs using toothpick sticks, Orange sticks.

We have found that the best results have been achieved using a mehendi cone, which is the most popular mode of application in India. If you are from India the best plastic is the milk bag plastic, a heavy-duty shopping bag plastic, a zip lock bag plastic, would do. Please refer to the instructions below on how to make a cone.

Mehendi Preparation for Application:

Fresh and fine mehendi (also our fine mehendi) doesn't need any special procedure to get good color. You need to just add a few drops of eucalyptus oil and mehendi oil to the paste, made mixing mehendi powder and water. The consistency should be a little thinner to the regular toothpaste, or a little thicker than stirred yogurt.

For ready available products in the market you could follow the following procedure.

Adding the ingredients below adds more color to the mehendi paste. So if your mehendi powder is a little stale follow this procedure for better results.

One cone is sufficient for designing 4 hands. So depending on the quantity required mix the paste.

Take 100 grams of mehendi for 4 cones,

1) Filter/sift the mehendi powder twice with nylon cloth/ top part of the panty hose, if it is not already done. A tea strainer can also be used. The powder should not be lumpy. Make sure you have covered your nose with cloth if you have dust allergy.

2)

a) boil half a cup of water with one spoon of tea leaves (Indian tea) and one spoon of methi .

b) Put four pieces of tamarind and one spoon of sugar in half a cup of water keep it for 10 minutes.

Other options if you do not have the above things available:

1) Boiled coffee water

2) Boiled cloves water

3) Fresh lemon juice.

4) Dried lemon boiled till turned red.

5) Vinegar or any other natural acidic liquid.

3) After 10 minutes mix both the water (a & b) and stir it well. Filter the water and add it to the 100 grams of mehendi powder. Put 10 to 12 drops of Eucalyptus oil & equal amount of Mehendi oil in the paste. Make a thick paste, keep the mixture for min. 1 hour or max. 24 hours before applying. Dilute the mixture to the right consistency only at the time of using the paste.

The paste can be stored in the refrigerator (freeze) for almost 2-3 weeks, and can be removed 2 hours before using the paste to give the same results. Prefer using fresh paste. The right room temperature should be around 25 degrees. Mehendi doesn't give optimum results in cold places.

4) Stir Mehendi well before putting it into the cone, to avoid any lumps. The consistency should be a little thinner to the regular toothpaste, or a little thicker than stirred yogurt. Put that paste in your cone/applicator and seal it well.

Use gloves if you are a learner to avoid staining your hands. Keep a rough cotton cloth handy. If you are not used to applying mehendi regularly, take a rough paper and make horizontal and vertical lines to get used to the cone, once you have a steady hand try making designs on your own.